Report: Trump moving forward with plans for new China tariffs
President Donald Trump is moving forward with plans to impose new tariffs on about $200 billion of Chinese imports, while Beijing is considering retaliatory measures, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Both sides were preparing to hold new talks on their tariff dispute. Last week Mr. Trump told reporters such a move could come "very soon."
The Journal cited unnamed people familiar with the matter who said the tariff level will likely be set at about 10 percent, below the 25 percent announced earlier this year.
The two governments have already imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of each other's goods. Beijing has issued a list of another $60 billion of American products for retaliation if Mr. Trump's next tariff hike goes ahead.
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters declined comment on the timing of a possible announcement, but said: "The President has been clear that he and his administration will continue to take action to address China's unfair trade practices. We encourage China to address the long standing concerns raised by the United States."
The Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday that it was invited to hold new talks. Envoys from the two countries last met Aug. 22 in Washington but reported no progress.
Beijing has rejected pressure from the United States to roll back plans for state-led development of Chinese global champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields.
Washington, Europe and other trading partners say those plans violate China's market-opening commitments. American officials also worry they might erode U.S. industrial leadership.
Forecasters have warned that the worsening conflict between the world's two biggest traders could cut up to 0.5 percentage point off global economic growth through 2020 if all threatened tariff hikes go ahead.
China has tried without success to recruit Germany, France, South Korea and other governments as allies against Washington. Some of them have criticized Mr. Trump's tactics but many echo U.S. complaints about Chinese market barriers and industrial strategy.
Clamping down on exports?
Separately, one of China's most prominent figures in global finance says Beijing should press Washington to end their tariff battle by clamping down on exports of goods needed by American companies, according to news reports Monday.
The comments by Lou Jiwei, a former finance minister and chairman of China's sovereign wealth fund, follow reports regulators are squeezing American companies by slowing down customs approvals and stepping up environmental and other inspections.
Also Monday, an official newspaper called for more aggressive measures to "make American pain worse" following tariff hikes by both sides on $50 billion of each other's goods.
"Only knowing the pain of fighting will stop the war and cause (the United States) to negotiate seriously," said Lou.
Lou was finance minister through 2016 and serves as chairman of China's 1.9 trillion yuan ($290 billion) National Social Security Fund, which manages assets of government pension plans. He is a former chairman of China's sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corp.
Chinese authorities have yet to confirm what steps aside from retaliatory tariffs they might take. But they have threatened "comprehensive measures" as Beijing runs out of imports for penalties due to its lopsided trade balance with the United States.
Other commentators have suggested Beijing use its holdings of U.S. government debt or target American companies in China.